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User:Noorullah21/Ahmad Shah Durrani

Coordinates: 31°37′10″N 65°42′25″E / 31.61944°N 65.70694°E / 31.61944; 65.70694
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Ahmad Shah Durrani
احمد شاه دراني
Padishah
Ghazi
Shāh Durr-i-Durrān ("King, Pearl of Pearls")
Portrait of Ahmad Shah Durrani, c. 1757, Bibliothèque nationale de France
1st Emir of the Durrani Empire
ReignJune 1747–4 June 1772
CoronationJune 1747[1]
PredecessorPosition established
SuccessorTimur Shah Durrani
BornAhmad Khan Abdali
c. 1722[2][3]: 287 
Herat, Sadozai Sultanate of Herat (present-day Afghanistan)[4][5]
or
Multan, Multan Subah, Punjab, Mughal Empire (present-day Punjab, Pakistan)[6][7][8]
Died (aged 49–52)[2]: 409 
Maruf, Kandahar Province, Durrani Empire
(present-day Afghanistan)
BurialJune 1772
Tomb of Ahmad Shah Durrani, Kandahar, Afghanistan
31°37′10″N 65°42′25″E / 31.61944°N 65.70694°E / 31.61944; 65.70694
Spouse
​
(m. 1757)​
​
​
(m. 1757)​
Names
Ahmad Shah Abdali Durr-i-Durrān
Era dates
18th century
DynastyHouse of Durrani
FatherMohammad Zaman Khan Abdali
MotherZarghona Anaa[9]
ReligionSunni Islam
Royal sealAhmad Shah Durrani احمد شاه دراني's signature

Ahmad Shāh Durrānī (Pashto: احمد شاه دراني; Persian: احمد شاه درانی), also known as Ahmad Shāh Abdālī (Pashto: احمد شاه ابدالي), was the founder of the Durrani Empire and is often regarded as the founder of modern Afghanistan.[10][11][12] In June 1747, he was appointed as King of the Afghans by a loya jirga in Kandahar, where he set up his capital.[13]

Primarily with the support of Pashtun tribes,[14] Ahmad Shah pushed eastward to the Mughal and Maratha Empires of India, westward to the disintegrating Afsharid Empire of Iran, and northward to the Khanate of Bukhara of Turkestan. Within a few years, he extended his control from Khorasan in the west to North India in the east, and from the Amu Darya in the north to the Arabian Sea in the south.[15][11][16]

Soon after his accession, Ahmad Shah adopted the epithet Shāh Durr-i-Durrān, "King, Pearl of Pearls", and changed the name of his "Tareen" Abdali tribe to "Durrani" after himself. His tomb is in the center of Kandahar, adjacent to Kirka Sharif (Shrine of the Cloak), which contains a cloak worn by the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Afghans often call him Ahmad Shāh Bābā, meaning "Ahmad Shah the Father".[17][18][19] A brilliant military leader and tactician, Ahmad Shah is typically compared to rulers such as Mahmud of Ghazni, Babur, and as well as Nader Shah.[20] Ahmad Shah was referred to as the "greatest general of Asia of his time".[21]

Death

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The tomb of Ahmad Shah Durrani in Kandahar City, which also serves as the Congregational Mosque and contains the sacred cloak that the Islamic Prophet Muhammad wore.
Son and Successor to Ahmad Shah, Timur Shah Durrani

Ahmad Shah may have suffered an injury due to a flying brick striking his nose when the Harimandir Sahib was destroyed with gunpowder. [22] Other sources state that he suffered from what Afghan sources described as a "gangrenous ulcer", which may attribute to numerous illnesses, such as Leprosy, Syphilis, or a tumor.[23]

Lee writes: "Ahmad Shah gained poor health as a result of all his campaigns. Despite all attempts to treat it, a wound in his nose remained. The ulcer in his later years began eating into his brain".[24] Following the advice of his physicians, he spent part of the summer in the cooler climate of the Margha plain in the Toba Achakzai range during the last few years of his life. He died of his illness on 4 June 1772 (2 Rabi' al-Awwal 1186) in Maruf, Toba Achakzai, east of Kandahar. Some other sources state that he died on 16 October 1772.[25][26]

Ahmad Shah was buried in the city of Kandahar adjacent to the Shrine of the Cloak, where a large mausoleum was built. It has been described in the following way:

Under the shimmering turquoise dome that dominates the sand-blown city of Kandahar lies the body of Ahmad Shah Abdali, the young Kandahari warrior who in 1747 became the region's first Durrani king. The mausoleum is covered in deep blue and white tiles behind a small grove of trees, one of which is said to cure toothache, and is a place of pilgrimage. In front of it is a small mosque with a marble vault containing one of the holiest relics in the Islamic World, a kherqa, the Sacred Cloak of Mohammed that was given to Ahmad Shah by Mured Beg, the Emir of Bokhara. The Sacred Cloak is kept locked away, taken out only at times of great crisis but the mausoleum is open and there is a constant line of men leaving their sandals at the door and shuffling through to marvel at the surprisingly long marble tomb and touch the glass case containing Ahmad Shah's brass helmet. Before leaving they bend to kiss a length of pink velvet said to be from his robe. It bears the unmistakable scent of jasmine.[27]

In his tomb his epitaph is written:

The King of high rank, Ahmad Shah Durrani,
Was equal to Kisra in managing the affairs of his government.
In his time, from the awe of his glory and greatness,
The lioness nourished the stag with her milk.
From all sides in the ear of his enemies there arrived
A thousand reproofs from the tongue of his dagger.
The date of his departure for the house of mortality
Was the year of the Hijra 1186 (1772 A.D.)[28]

Legacy

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Durrani's victory over the Marathas influenced the history of the subcontinent and, in particular, the policies of the East India Company in the region.[citation needed] His refusal to continue his campaigns deeper into India prevented a clash with the company and allowed them to continue to acquire power and influence after they established complete control over the former Mughal province of Bengal in 1793. Fear of another Afghan invasion influenced company policy-makers for almost half a century after the Battle of Panipat.[citation needed] The acknowledgment of Durrani's military accomplishments is reflected in an intelligence report made by Company officials on the Battle of Panipat, which referred to Ahmad Shah as the 'King of Kings'.[29] This fear led in 1798 to a Company envoy being sent to the Persian court in part to instigate the Persians in their claims on Herat to forestall a possible Afghan invasion of India that might have halted Company expansion.[29] Mountstuart Elphinstone wrote of Ahmad Shah:

His military courage and activity are spoken of with admiration, both by his own subjects and the nations with whom he was engaged, either in wars or alliances. He seems to have been naturally disposed to mildness and clemency and though it is impossible to acquire sovereign power and perhaps, in Asia, to maintain it, without crimes; yet the memory of no eastern prince is stained with fewer acts of cruelty and injustice.

— Mountstuart Elphinstone

In Pakistan, a short-range ballistic missile Abdali-I, is named in the honour of Ahmad Shah Abdali.[30]

Poetry

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Durrani wrote a collection of odes in his native Pashto. He was also the author of several poems in Persian. One of his most famous Pashto poems was Love of a Nation:[31][32][33]

ستا د عشق له وينو ډک سول ځيګرونه
By blood, we are immersed in love of you
ستا په لاره کښې بايلي زلمي سرونه
The youth lose their heads for your sake
تا ته راسمه زړګی زما فارغ سي
I come to you and my heart finds rest
بې له تا مې اندېښنې د زړه مارونه
Away from you, grief clings to my heart like a snake
که هر څو مې د دنيا ملکونه ډېر سي
Whatever countries I conquer in the world,
زما به هېر نه سي دا ستا ښکلي باغونه
I will never forget your beautiful gardens
د ډیلي تخت هېرومه چې را ياد کړم
I forget the throne of Delhi when I remember,
زما د ښکلي پښتونخوا د غرو سرونه
The mountain tops of my beautiful Pashtunkhwa
د فريد او د حميد دور به بيا سي
The eras of Farid [Sher Shah Suri] and Hamid [Lodi] will return,
چې زه وکاندم پر هر لوري تاختونه
When I launch attacks on all sides
که تمامه دنيا يو خوا ته بل خوا يې
If I must choose between the world and you,
زما خوښ دي ستا خالي تش ډګرونه
I shall not hesitate to claim your barren deserts as my own

Personal life

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During Nader Shah's invasion of India in 1739, Ahmad Shah also accompanied him and stayed some days in the Red Fort of Delhi. When he was standing "outside the Jali gate near Diwan-i-Am", Asaf Jah I saw him. He was "an expert in physiognomy" and predicted that Ahmad Shah was "destined to become a king". When Nader Shah learned of it, he "purportedly clipped" his ears with his dagger and made the remark "When you become a king, this will remind you of me". According to other sources, Nader Shah did not believe in it and asked him to be kind to his descendants "on the attaintment of royalty".[34]

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Khān, Tahmās (1967). Tahmas Nama, the Autobiography of a Slave. Popular Prakashan. p. 7. Archived from the original on 17 October 2023. Retrieved 27 September 2023. When Ahmad Shah had, on the death of Nadir Shah declared his independence at Quandahar (June 1747)...
  2. ^ a b Nejatie, Sajjad (2017). The Pearl of Pearls: The Abdālī-Durrānī Confederacy and Its Transformation under Aḥmad Shāh, Durr-i Durrān (PhD). University of Toronto. Archived from the original on 4 February 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  3. ^ Sarkar, Sir Jadunath (1971). 1754-1771 (Panipat). 3d ed. 1966, 1971 printing. Orient Longman. p. 89.
  4. ^ Nejatie, Sajjad (2017). The Pearl of Pearls: The Abdālī-Durrānī Confederacy and Its Transformation under Aḥmad Shāh, Durr-i Durrān (PhD). University of Toronto. p. 293. Archived from the original on 4 February 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2019. The fact that numerous sources composed in the ruler's lifetime consistently connect him in his youth to Herat justifies the stance of Ghubār and others that Aḥmad Shāh was, in fact, born in the Herat region, around the time his father passed away and when the Abdālī leadership still exercised authority over the province.
  5. ^ Afghanistan In The Course of History us.archive.org
  6. ^ Hanifi, Shah Mahmoud (2008). Connecting Histories in Afghanistan: Market Relations and State Formation on a Colonial Frontier. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. p. 42. ISBN 978-0804777773. Ahmad Shah (ruled 1747–72), the ephemeral empire's founder, was born in Multan in 1722.
  7. ^ Nölle-Karimi, Christine. "Afghanistan until 1747". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam (3rd ed.). Brill Online. ISSN 1873-9830. It was in Multan that the future Aḥmad Shāh Sadūzāʾī was born of Khudādād's lineage.
  8. ^ Dalrymple, William (2013). Return of a King: The battle for Afghanistan. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1408818305. Ahmad Shah Abdali (1722–72): Born in Multan, Ahmad Shah rose to power in the service of the Persian warlord Nadir Shah.
  9. ^ "Afghan first lady in shadow of 1920s queen?". 1 October 2014. Archived from the original on 23 October 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2020 – via www.aljazeera.com.
  10. ^ "Ahmad Shah and the Durrani Empire". Library of Congress Country Studies on Afghanistan. 1997. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
  11. ^ a b Friedrich Engels (1857). "Afghanistan". Andy Blunden. The New American Cyclopaedia, Vol. I. Archived from the original on 18 October 2010. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
  12. ^ Clements, Frank (2003). Conflict in Afghanistan: a historical encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 81. ISBN 978-1-85109-402-8. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
  13. ^ Nejatie, Sajjad (2017). The Pearl of Pearls: The Abdālī-Durrānī Confederacy and Its Transformation under Aḥmad Shāh, Durr-i Durrān (PhD). University of Toronto. p. 293. Archived from the original on 4 February 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2019. According to the Taẕkira of Anand Ram "Mukhliṣ," He issued a royal edict on 15 July 1747, appointing Muḥammad Hāshim Afrīdī as chief of the Afrīdī of the Peshawar region. This appears to affirm that his accession took place no later than mid-July.
  14. ^ D. Balland. "Afghanistan: x. Political History". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition, 1982. Archived from the original on 26 May 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  15. ^ "Aḥmad Shah Durrānī". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 10 May 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  16. ^ Chayes, Sarah (2006). The Punishment of Virtue: Inside Afghanistan After the Taliban. Univ. of Queensland Press. p. 99. ISBN 978-1-932705-54-6. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
  17. ^ Singh, Ganḍā (1959). Ahmad Shah Durrani: Father of Modern Afghanistan. Asia Publishing House. p. 457. ISBN 978-1-4021-7278-6. Retrieved 25 August 2010.
  18. ^ "Ahmad Shah Abdali". Abdullah Qazi. Afghanistan Online. Archived from the original on 12 August 2010. Retrieved 23 September 2010. Afghans refer to him as Ahmad Shah Baba (Ahmad Shah, the father).
  19. ^ Runion, Meredith L. (2007). The history of Afghanistan. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 71. ISBN 978-0-313-33798-7. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
  20. ^ Lee 2019, p. 141.
  21. ^ Gupta, Hari Ram (1978). History of the Sikhs: Evolution of Sikh confederacies, 1708-1769. Munshiram Manoharlal. p. 192. The Afghans fought with equal valour and energy and displayed strategy under the leadership of the greatest general of Asia of his time...
  22. ^ Grewal, J. S. (2004). The Khalsa Sikh and Non-Sikh Perspectives. Manohar. p. 23. ISBN 9788173045806.
  23. ^ William, Anita, Dalrymple, Anand (2017). Koh-I-Noor: The History of the World's Most Infamous Diamond (Hardcover ed.). Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 65. ISBN 978-1-63557-076-2. Few possessors of the Koh-i-Noor have led happy lives, and while Ahmad Shah rarely lost a battle, he was eventually defeated by a foe more intractable than any army. From early on in his reign, his face began to be eaten away by what the Afghan sources call a 'gangrenous ulcer', possibly leprosy, syphilis or some form of tumour. Even as he was winning his greatest victory at Panipat, Ahmad Shah's disease had already consumed his nose, and a diamond-studded substitute was attached in its place.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  24. ^ Lee, Jonathan (2019). Afghanistan: A History from 1260 to the Present. Reaktion Books. p. 140. ISBN 9781789140101.
  25. ^ Saggu, Devinder Singh (2018). Battle Tactics And War Manoeuvres of the Sikhs. Notion Press. ISBN 9781642490060. In the following years Abdali's face became disfigured due to the wound inflicted on his nose by the flying brick. To cover it up, he got a nose of silver made. As ordained by Providance, maggot's formation took place in his nose, throat and brain. So much so that it became difficult for him to swallow the food. Maggots would slip down his throat. Attendants, tried to feed him milk by spoon but maggots would fall from his nose in the spoon. His condition became miserable and on the night of 16th Oct, 1772 at Toba Maruf in Suilleman hills he met with a terrible end.
  26. ^ Bruce Malleson, George (1878). History of Afghanistan From the Earliest Period to the Outbreak of the War of 1878. British India: W.H Allen Company. p. 291. ISBN 9780341781523. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  27. ^ Lamb, Christina (2002). The Sewing Circles of Herat. HarperCollins. First Perennial edition (2004), p. 38. ISBN 0-06-050527-3.
  28. ^ Nancy Hatch Dupree – An Historical Guide To Afghanistan – The South (Chapter 16)
  29. ^ a b "Central Asia". The British Library. Archived from the original on 21 May 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  30. ^ "Asia Times Online :: South Asia news, business and economy from India and Pakistan". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  31. ^ "Ahmad Shah Durrani (Pashto Poet)". Abdullah Qazi. Afghanistan Online. Archived from the original on 8 September 2010. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
  32. ^ "A Profile of Afghanistan – Ahmad Shah Durrani (Pashto Poet)". Kimberly Kim. Mine Action Information Center. Archived from the original on 22 May 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
  33. ^ Akbar, Said Hyder (December 2008). Come Back to Afghanistan: A California Teenager's Story. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 9781596919976. Archived from the original on 17 October 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  34. ^ Cite error: The named reference Mehta, p.247 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  35. ^ Indian express https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/panipat-film-controversy-author-vishwas-patil-6149918/lite/&ved=2ahUKEwjPi9CrvI_8AhU8S2wGHT6yBp0QFnoECCkQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2AA4HtFoJB8BbrnrPq6395. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  36. ^ "Mr Christos Mojo – Indian Express". archive.indianexpress.com. Retrieved 16 April 2022.

Notes

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Bibliography

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Further reading

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Regnal titles
Preceded by
Position established
 Emir of Afghanistan
1747–1772 		Succeeded by
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